SB Knocks Off Central Arkansas, 7-3

NORMAN, Okla. The No. 3 Oklahoma softball team bounced back with a 7-3 victory over Central Arkansas Wednesday night at the OU Softball Complex. The Sooners pushed their record to 37-3 while Central Arkansas fell to 8-25 on the year.

Senior Norrelle Dickson continued her torrid pace at the plate as she went 3-for-3 with three singles. The Big 12 leader in batting average with a .509 clip also recorded her 300th career hit in her third at bat. The OU career leader in hits, runs and stolen bases has recorded 10 hits in her last 10 at bats. Dickson will aim for the NCAA record of 11 straight on Saturday against No. 2 Texas A&M.

The senior is now two stolen bases shy of reaching the 300 hits, 200 runs and 100 stolen bases mark in her career. Dickson would become only the 11th player in NCAA history and the first ever in the Big 12 to reach the milestone.

OU 7, UCA 3 | WhiteOUt for Texas A&M

Other offensive leaders for the Sooners included Mariee Mena, Stacia Aleman and Jessica Legendre, who recorded two hits each against the Bears. Cleanup hitter Samantha Ricketts, the Big 12 leader in RBI, led the team with three RBI and pounded her Big 12-best 14th home run of the season.

Sophomore D.J. Mathis improved to 10-2 on the year after pitching the final four innings for relief of starter Morgan Hudsonpillar. The lefty gave up no hits and only walked two in her four innings of work.

“Tonight we really tried to execute the little things,” head coach Patty Gasso said. “I really wanted specific people to focus on bunts, hit and runs and those type of little plays at the plate because that is what will make the difference down the road. A lot of players made the most of their opportunities tonight and I was glad to see that.”

The offense came out strong in the bottom of the first as Dickson led off with an infield single and stole the 98th base of her career on the following play. Mena followed that with an RBI single up the middle that scored Dickson as Mena advanced to second on the throw. Amber Flores' sac bunt moved Mena to third who scored on Ricketts' RBI ground out to push the lead to 2-0. Following two straight singles by Susan Ogden and Stacia Aleman, Amber Spaulding ripped an RBI single to left field and the Sooners led 3-0 with runners at the corners. Next, Spaulding stole second but a throwing error by the catcher brought Aleman across the plate as OU led 4-0 after the first inning.

Dickson added her second hit of the night to lead off the second. Two outs later, Ricketts pounded a two-run homer over the center field wall to extend the Sooner lead to 6-0.

The Bears answered in the top of the third as Sarah Garcia responded with a two-run homer over left center field to close the gap, 6-2. UCA's Janae Owens followed that with a solo home run over left field, her fifth of the year as the back-to-back homers pushed the score to 6-3 after the top of the third.

Heading into the top of the fourth, Mathis relieved Hudsonpillar. Hudsonpillar hadn't given up a home run this season until the third inning when UCA hit two off of her. The sophomore scattered five hits and gave up three earned runs in three complete innings.

The Sooners added an additional run in the top of the fourth as Dickson led off with another single, marking the 300th hit of her career. Dickson was moved to third on Mena's single to right. Next, Flores' RBI fielder's choice brought Dickson across the plate as OU scored its final run of the game and led 7-3.

The Sooners will step back into Big 12 play this weekend with a top-five showdown between No. 3 OU and No. 2 Texas A&M. The Aggies, who were beat by No. 10 Texas Wednesday night, will meet the Sooners at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The contest will be shown on ESPN2 and will also be a whiteOUt promotion with the first 1,000 fans receiving a free white OU t-shirt to wear during the game. The series will conclude at 12 p.m. on Sunday at the OU Softball Complex.

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